Did You Wonder Who Fired the Gun?
Shot in gorgeous black-and-white and narrated by the filmmaker in his expressive, characteristic voice, the film relates the story of Travis Wilkerson’s white supremacist great-grandfather S.E. Branch who shot and killed Bill Spann, a black man. Wilkerson’s great-grandfather was never charged with the crime, while his victim was almost forgotten.
Set in lower Alabama, the filmmaker encounters obstacle after obstacle when he starts his investigative documentary murder mystery. He’s accused of bringing shame upon the family, shaking up old trouble nobody wants. The ghosts are real in Alabama, and the film establishes a parallel narrative line with Robert Mulligan’s classic To Kill a Mockingbird (1962). “This isn’t a white savior story. This is a white nightmare story”, announces the filmmaker in the beginning of the film and he will make us not forget it. “An urgent, often corrosive look at America’s past and present” (NYT).
Film details
- Country of production
- USA
- Year
- 2017
- Festival edition
- IFFR 2018
- Length
- 90"
- Medium/Format
- DCP
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